At the time of the mass manufacture of numerous types of objects it is frequently necessary to clean and dry the latter at the end of the production line. For example one can think of optical, mechanical or other parts. The cleaning operations terminate in washing and rinsing with water, but it is then necessary to eliminate the droplets of water which remain attached to the surface, in order to prevent the formation of an oxide and deposits of impurities or traces which would occur if the water was not eliminated or simply eliminated by evaporation.
In order to limit the labour costs, drying machines are used in which the objects are immersed in a bath of a product which detaches the droplets of water from the surface of the objects.
This product has low surface tension, so that it spreads by wetting over the entire surface of the objects and thus detaches the droplets of water attached to the latter. The droplets then rise to the surface of the bath, due to the difference in density, from which they are removed mechanically.
The products used hitherto for this drying operation have the drawback of being chlorinated products or chlorofluorocarbons of the CFC-113 type with the addition of a surface active agent having the effect of repelling water. It is the solvent which, having a greater wetting capacity due to the presence of the surface active agent, moves the water by detaching it from the object and without dissolving it.
Now, the use of chlorofluorocarbons is prohibited today in order to preserve the ozone layer. The applicant has thus sought to formulate a new bath free from CFC or HCFC.